Campaign News

Press releases and statements from the campaign.

Statement on Michael Noonan "bully" claims

Statement by Libertas Founder Declan Ganley:

“If Enda Kenny can’t explain himself to a few ordinary voters with concerns, how can anyone have confidence in his ability to stand up to Angela Merkel? Perhaps we should ask Germany nicely if they’ll let him take his teleprompter with him into meetings”.

Kenny's hiding behind a teleprompter will fool no-one - Ganley

Libertas founder Declan Ganley issued the following statement in response to reports that An Taoiseach will address the nation on Sunday night to call for a yes vote:

“Our Taoiseach is terrified of awkward questions.

He cannot tell us the ESM will have enough money in it.

He cannot tell us the Treaty is the final deal.

He cannot tell us how Ireland is somehow imperilled by waiting for a few months to see the full picture, while Germany and France are permitted to do exactly that.

He cannot answer basic questions, which is why he’s avoiding any forum where somebody might actually get to ask them.

This is a leader who won’t debate a plan that amounts to bank debt slavery, but will hide behind a teleprompter as he asks us to reward those who grabbed billions of our Euros to cover their private losses.

The Irish people will look at Enda Kenny reading someone else’s words on Sunday Night and see a leader asking them to vote for a treaty he himself is too scared to debate. I’m confident that they’ll draw the obvious conclusion”

Only beneficiaries of vote are secret bondholders - Ganley

Responding to the latest distraction from Fine Gael and Labour, Libertas founder Declan Ganley issued the following statement:

“The only private interests benefitting from our vote on the Fiscal Treaty are those Banks and Bondholders being guaranteed billions more of Irish taxpayer’s money under the terms of the failed policies this Treaty locks in.

I call on Fine Gael and Labour to immediately tell us who these firms are.

What are their names?

How much more do they stand to get when we lock in this disastrous policy?

How many of them employ lobbyists in Dublin to influence Government policy?

Why can’t the Irish people be told who they are?

Fine Gael and Labour know who these bondholders are. Why shouldn’t we, the people who are paying for their losses? As the old saying goes – follow the money.

Fine Gael and Labour don’t want to talk about this. Nor do they want to discuss anything else to do with the Treaty. The Government and its secret bondholder friends want to spend two weeks talking about anything but the thing we’re voting on.

Ireland cannot afford another rushed decision like the disastrous Bank Guarantee. Another decision like the bank guarantee is what Ireland’s facelesss bondholders want, which is why the Fine Gael and Labour are spending millions to frighten the Irish people into making this decision now, before all the implications are known.”

Libertas responds to Richard Bruton's comments on second referendum

Libertas issued the following statement in response to comments made by Fine Gael Minister Richard Bruton on “The Last Word” Treaty debate on Today FM:

“Richard Bruton has ended any effective argument for a YES vote. He admits that Ireland can vote on this deal later in the year – meaning that the Irish people are free to hold their cards until we know what other EU countries are putting on the table.

Dozens of experts have called for the postponement of this referendum. It’s now clear that the only choice for Ireland is to tell the Government to wait, seek a deal that tackles our real problem - the bank debt - and come back to us later in the year. This can only be done with a calm, rational “NO” on May 31st”.

Ganley tells Kenny to "hold his cards"

Libertas founder Declan Ganley this afternoon presented a gift to Enda Kenny – a book outlining the top 52 ways to win at poker. Mr. Ganley said that recent events in Europe had made clear that Mr. Kenny needed a lesson on “knowing when to hold ‘em, and knowing when to fold ‘em:

“This morning, the French Finance minister said his country would veto this Treaty. We already know his boss, the new French President, wants it renegotiated, and all kinds of things added to it. We know the German parliament doesn’t want to move on it yet either.

Why would Ireland fold its cards and pass a Treaty before we know what the final version of it looks like? What does Mr. Kenny not want us to know? The smart play for Ireland is to hold our cards. We have plenty of time, and we can pass a Treaty that works later on this year. In the meantime, we can fight our corner for a real deal on bank debt that actually does something to secure our future.

Enda Kenny needs a lesson in poker badly. You don’t fold your cards before you see what’s on the table – on May 31st, the Irish people must make a calm, commonsense decision to hold off on ratifying this incomplete Treaty until we know what’s actually in it”.

Ireland must wait until Hollande shows his cards on Tax Harmonisation - Libertas

Following comments from newly elected French President Francois Hollande on the need for Tax Harmonisation measures in his proposed revisions to the Stability Treaty, Libertas issued the following statement:

“It makes no sense for Ireland to sign up to an agreement until we know what its final shape will be. These comments from President Hollande are deeply concerning, and dramatically illustrate the historic folly made by the Government in deciding to jump off the cliff with a blindfold and hold this referendum now.

We are being asked to sign a deal that has not yet been finalised, without knowing what is coming around the corner in future negotiations. We have many months left before we must legally ratify this Treaty – the only sensible option to protect our tax competitiveness and get the deal we need on the bank debt is to force the Government to delay this decision with a strong NO vote on May 31st”

Public meeting in Galway TONIGHT

Live in or near Galway? Want to meet Declan or get involved in the campaign? Well, come along to t he Connemara Room in the Meyrick Hotel on Eyre Square tonight at 8pm, as Libertas holds it's first Stability/Stagnation Treaty campaign meeting.

All are welcome.

If Government won't postpone the referendum, the people must - Ganley

Following the comments of the referendum commission on the impossibility of postponing the May 31st vote, Libertas Founder Declan Ganley issued the following statement:

“If the Government cannot or will not postpone this referendum, it is up to the people to do so by voting NO on May 31st.

We all know that there will be a second vote when the referendum fails – and we all know that there are moves afoot to dramatically modify this Treaty in Europe.

It makes no sense for Ireland to accept this deal as it currently stands when we have an opportunity to seek a deal that is focused on tackling the real problems like bank debt which can be put to us later this year.

The people know that the Government has made a mistake holding this vote with the ongoing turmoil in Greece and elsewhere, and with the new political landscape in Brussels offering us new opportunities.

This decision must be put back until all our options are much clearer, and by doing so we also get the opportunity to make a real deal on bank debt, and vote on a treaty that offers stable growth, not stable stagnation.

If the Government won’t postpone, the people must. Voting NO on May 31st is the only way to accomplish this."

Poster Campaign Launched

Declan launched the Libertas Poster campaign this morning at a Press Conference in the Shelbourne Hotel. You should start to see them appearing on a lampost near you in the next few days.

Our message is very simple - Cut the Bank Debt, or No Deal.

Neither Ireland nor Europe can afford the ball and chain of permanent bank debt incurred by failed private speculators. We need to stand up and fight for the right deal for us and the generations to come. They tell you there's no better deal on offer - they always do. It's time for us to tell them that there'd better be - because this Stagnation Treaty just isn't worth having.

ICYMI - Declan on Marian Finucane

Declan discussed Libertas's opposition to the Fiscal Treaty on the Marian Finucane programme this morning. If you missed it, you can listen in by clicking "latest show" here.

Read Declan Ganley on why to vote NO in the Sunday Business Post

Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley lays out the reasons for the Libertas Campaign in the Sunday Business Post today.

"Ireland and Europe need a better deal - or at least a deal that has some faint prospect of actually working. To accept anything less would be an historic error for which our children would not forgive us"

Libertas - just telling you what the Government used to think before they decided you needed to be scared.

Before they start campaigning, politicians tend to be a little more honest.

Fine Gael's Brian Hayes - now one of the cheerleaders-in-chief for the Government's fear campaign said this just last December:

"The idea that we could have a referendum without that agreement, on a substantial re-arranging of our debt, wouldn't fly," Mr Hayes said in an interview with the Sunday Business Post .

"We would have to have that in place before we put the question (to the people) and that's beginning to be understood at an EU level, which puts us in a stronger position," he said.

And of course we had the Minister for Public Expenditure, Brendan Howlin, expressing the same sentiment as recently as April.

Our own politicians know how badly we need a deal on the bank debt - and yet here these same politicians are trying to scare you into accepting a deal that they themselves know isn't good enough.

It's very simple.Cut the Bank Debt, or NO Deal.

Not another Red Cent.

Remember this?

"Not another Red Cent".

This Treaty, that Leo Varadkar wants you to vote for, doesn't mean that the Government will give the banks more money directly.

But you will. Through your taxes. You and your children, and their children.

We can't recover while we're paying off bank debts incurred by the French and the Germans - and this Treaty locks us into that death waltz for the next several decades. Another red cent? Try another few billion.

Oh, and it's worth remembering the things our politicians will tell you when they really really want you to vote for something, isn't it?

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EU FISCAL TREATY 2012

About Libertas

The Libertas Institute
...seeks to further constructive dialogue and ideas about the future of Europe from a democratic, federalist perspective. We believe in a Europe built on the enduring values of democracy, personal and religious liberty, economic freedom, and respect for the life and liberty of all human persons.